Sunday, 31 July 2016

Brent Council's bulk collection service
before the Public Realm contract was handed to Veolia used to take about a
fortnight from request to notification.

I have received a number of complaints about
how long it now takes for goods to be collected.

This is an example sent in by
reader Paul Lorber with a 7 week gap.

From Brent Customer Services June 15th
2016Thank you for your Special Collection
enquiry. Your request for:Item 1: FreezerItem 2: Non Metal Bed FrameItem 3: Other Household WasteItem 4: Other Household WasteItem 5: Other Household WasteTo be collected has been logged and your
unique reference number is XXXXXXXYour items will be collected on 08 August 2016.Please ensure the items are placed together
in the front garden ready for collection.If you have any queries or wish to change the
week of your collection please telephone the Customer Services on 020 8937
5050.

Lorber has asked what the service
timescales are but remarks that if this service has been commissioned by Brent
Council and is acceptable to them it is clearly poor value for money, although
representing plenty of profit for Veolia.

Lorber is fortunate in having a front
drive in which the items can be placed but many residents have extremely
small front gardens or none at all and is is surely no wonder that mattresses,
sofas, fridges, gas stoves, lavatory pans and broken gym equipment all end up
on the pavement attracting further fly-tipping.

Brent Council promised an improved service
when Veolia took over but I pointed out what I saw as a weakness in the
contract:

One aspect that may concern councillors is
that Veolia will be responsible for monitoring itself:

The contract will be self-monitoring, meaning
that the contractor is accountable for measuring, monitoring and improving
their own performance with the council carefully auditing their performance.
This, along with Key Outcome Targets set for each of the different services will
ensure that the Contractor is motivated to deliver the services.

Veolia will also be dealing with complaints
from councillors and residents in the first instance thus 'placing
responsibility on the Contractor to ‘own’ and be accountable for service complaints'.

I think it would be useful for the Scrutiny
Committee responsible for Public Realm to review Veolia's performance by
inviting Veolia executives to answer questions from councillors and the public
about the service. Cllr John Duffy has raised a number of issues on his
own blog LINK
and on Wembley Matters LINKLINKThis should cover the
grounds maintenance of BHP estates and parks maintenance which were handed over
to Veolia along with street cleansing, cemeteries, sports centres and much
else. When the Council gave the Public Realm contract to Veolia they
withdrew from the Green Flag scheme for parks and open spaces which had
provided a widely valued external audit of parks maintenance.

One matter we have heard little about is how
the litter enforcement contract, awarded to Kingdom, is working. This was
also criticised by Cllr Duffy LINK
and an update on it would be useful as it was seen as a trial. At the
same time Veolia's promised role in spotting fly-tipping and acting upon it
included working with Brent's enforcement team. Is this happening?

From the original Officer's report to Cabinet
on the Public Realm contract:

Fly tips will be cleared promptly. That is a
key requirement. Veolia have committed their operatives to becoming “the eyes
and the ears” of the council, trained to identify, report, and manage all
day-to-day fly-tips using mobile devices. The initial role on all enforcement
will be Veolia. Enforcement investigations will be managed as far as possible
by the Veolia supervisors and managers who will ensure photographic evidence and
pocket notebook records are taken to secure evidence. Once a case is correctly
and sufficiently built, Veolia will work with Brent’s enforcement team to bring
final prosecution.

UPDATE; The day after this article was published Brent Council issued a press release on the Kingdom fixed penalty litter enforcment trial. LINK

On 21 July we published a guest blog from Philip Grant LINK , which asked some questions of Brent Council and its Leader, Cllr. Muhammed Butt, about the pay-off last year to its former Director of Human Resources, Cara Davani.

I am pleased to say that, unlike her predecessor Christine Gilbert last year, Brent Council's Chief Executive, Carolyn Downs has written to provide brief answers to the four points which Philip raised. A copy of her letter is shown below, and readers are invited to consider the information given, and to add any comments they wish to arising from what we now know about the pay-off arrangements.

Friday, 29 July 2016

Residents opposed to the planned redevlopment of Heron House in Wembley will demonstrate at the site on Monday and are calling for support from other local people. They claim that the redevelopment plans are inappropriate for what is a residential surburban area and a sign that the high-rise Quintain development around the stadium is encroaching on their homes.

They say:

This large redevelopment of Heron House will adversely
affect every one of us and it will be too late to complain if we
get no support and the redevelopment goes ahead! Your street could very
well be next the speed with which these smaller developments are going up all
over the Borough!

If this large monstrosity at Heron House is allowed to
go up, traffic will increase and the parking situation will get even
worse, if that is possible.

Many of us will be overlooked from the higher levels
and in 2 years they are buying St Joseph's Social Club to build yet another higher monstrosity
to complete "The Gateway to Wembley"!

Do we really want
that right on our doorstep in our still very residential area? We cannot
do anything about the massive regeneration of the Stadium and High Road areas,
but we can certainly try to stop these smaller developers, if we have the
support

Many thanks to the reader who sent me a link to the Michaela Secondary Free School's Behaviour Policy.

It is full of unfamiliar terminology such as 'SLANT-ing' - (apparently a 'good thing') and enough misdemeanours to keep most normal children in detention for weeks. Remedies, including 'self-quizzing' and 'Internal Isolation', remind me of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

However, it is in its attitude to families that we can see a clue to the approach revealed in the school meals controversy LINK. Families are subject to discipline through their childrem.

The policy states:

Families
who choose not to support the school

If a pupil misses one day of Internal Isolation (II) either because the
pupil or the family is deliberately avoiding the punishment, the pupil will
spend two days in II. The period of II will double in line with the number of
days that the family or pupil chooses to stay away from school. So missing two
days of II will result in four days of II, missing three days of II will result
in six days of II, and so on. There is no upper limit to the number of days of
II that could be imposed. We need wholehearted support from all families to
maintain our high standards of behaviour and academic progress. In choosing to
attend Michaela, families are making the choice to follow our behaviour
systems. We have a system of zero tolerance. We ask that all families respect
our rules and follow them.

And, just an any good dictator does, Birbalsingh reserves unlimited powers for herself:

Discretion

No
behaviour policy can cover all eventualities. The Headmistress reserves the
right to use discretion to help Michaela pupils make better choices and learn
the right lessons.

This is the 2016-17 Behaviour Policy it is signed off by the Chair of Governors, Suella Fernandes who is Conservative MP for Fareham and a member of the Hosue of Commons Education Select Committee:

Preston Community Library will be showing a film about the struggle for freedom in South Africa on Saturday evening.

After the showing there will be two speakers, South African editor Mary Omond,
and publisher Geraldine Cook, who were involved in the production of a
book tied in with the film, and who are acquainted with personalities
depicted in the film.

They will be discussing what is involved with film tie-ins and the particular case of this book which proved to be a hair-raising experience taking place against against the rapidly imploding situation in South Africa when the world was tense with expectation of mass insurrection and bloodshed.The discussion will be of interest to those who were involved in the anti-apartheid struggle as well as the new generation who are using lessons from that struggle in current international campaigns.Films are for library members, but if you are not joined up already you can join at the door. Screenings are free but donations are needed in order to put on more films.

The government's decision to delay a decision on the EDF Hinkley nuclear power station forced newspapers to rapidly revise their late editions obernight. Before the delay announcement Molly Scott Cato, Green MEO for the South West, released the following statement:

This decision is a massive blow to businesses and consumers who
will now be forced to pay for some of the most expensively generated
electricity on earth. It squanders the huge potential we have for
renewable energy resources in the South West. This is the sector where
our efforts should be channelled; renewables can come on stream quicker,
more cheaply and create thousands more jobs than nuclear ever can.
Given EDF’s record to date, both here in the UK and in building other
similar nuclear reactors elsewhere, we can expect further delays, even
higher costs and blackouts to follow.

This project is totally discredited. EDF is not trusted either
by its shareholders or many of its employees, both of whom have
expressed grave doubts about Hinkley. The only thing that keeps this
white elephant stumbling along is a blind ideological obsession with
nuclear power from the Tories and a determination to show that Brexit
Britain is still open for business. This is one business we could all do
without.

EDF's announcement came on the day another board member of the company resigned,
describing the project as “very risky” and saying he expected EDF to move towards renewables instead of pursuing more nuclear power.

Locals will be familiar with the crowds of secondary school children outside Wembley's fast food shops at the end of the school day and the all pervading smell of fried chicken and chips that wafts across the upper decks of buses as hungry adolescents cram in calories on their way home.

Brent Council has carried out a study of chip consumption LINK and found that the largest portion represented 86% of a sedentary 10-11 year old girl's daily energy requirement.

The study found that students from schools within 400m of fast food outlets were more likely to eat takeaways at lunchtime, after school and with their families.

Brent Council is looking into the possibility of controlling the number of fast food outlets within 400m of schools.

Obesity at Year 6 in Brent is 24% compared with a UK average of 19%.

In a press release accompanying the report the Council said:

In the fight against childhood
obesity in Brent, the council, via a mystery shopper, visited 23 local takeaways
that were close to secondary schools and purchased chip portions for sampling.
Each portion of chips was weighed and calorie, fat and salt levels were
analysed.

Frying practices, chip cut,
additional salt, oil type and packaging were also observed. 19 out of the 23
takeaways served a portion of chips with more than 500 calories, with four
larger than 1000 calories, 50 per cent of an adult’s recommended daily intake
(RI).

Four fast foot shops salted the
chips without asking the customer and added more sachets of salt to the carrier
bag encouraging more salting. Out of all the outlets observed only one
effectively implemented the ‘shake, tap, hang’ technique to remove excess oil.

Four outlets served chips
containing trans fats, with one portion sold containing three times an adult’s
maximum recommended intake. Trans fats area huge health concern due to their
association with heart disease and strokes and have been deemed no longer safe
for human consumption in the US.

Clr Krupesh Hirani, Brent Cabinet Member for Community Well-being said:

-->

The results from the study are
cause for concern however we want to work with the fast food outlets in Brent
in a bid to get them preparing, cooking and promoting their food with a
healthier customer in mind.

The study did however highlight
the commitment shown by takeaways who have achieved the Healthier Catering
Commitment award. On average portion sizes were smaller, contained less
calories and saturated fat, and did not contain trans fats.

Food businesses who adopt the
scheme display the Healthier Catering Commitment logo on their business
windows, doors or walls. So look out for this sign when you are next visiting a
fast food outlet or café in your area and if you can’t see it – ask them why!

I suspect not many of my readers also read the Daily Mail so here is a brief summary of an on-line story carried by the Mail LINK.

Katharine Birbalsingh who hit the headlines when she became Michael Gove's darling after she told a Tory Conference that the education system was broken based on her experience at a London secondary school, is head of Michaela Secondary Free School in Wembley Park. The school advertises its strict discipline policy and 'private school ethos' and has a laudatory comment from Boris Johnson hanging on its exterior.

The Mail story is not about the school's strict umbrella code (black or navy blue only) or its service to parents whereby they can text pictures of school shoes they are about to buy for approval LINK, but about its attitude towards the children of hard-up families.

The Mail reveals that children whose parents are behind with meal payments are put in lunch isolation, being made to sit on their own for the whole lunch hour, and are given a sandwich instead of a hot meal with dessert.

The Mail quotes a letter from the deputy headteacher, Barry Smith, to unemployed care worker Dionne Kelly. Dione had paid by the time she received the letter but her child was punished anyway:

The deadline for this term's lunch payment was 1st June 2016. You are currently £75 overdue. If this full amount is not received within this week your child will be placed into Lunch isolation.

They will receive a sandwich and a piece of fruit only. Only when the outstanding sum is paid in full will they be allowed to eat lunch with their classmates.

Birbalsingh told the Mail that the letter was sent in an attempt to encourage the parent to change her ways and support her son by paying for his food.

Sam Royston of the Children's Society said, 'No school should punish and potentially stigmatise a child because a parent has not paid for, or is unable to afford, school meals.'

Last week, the Spanish language publication El
Ibérico reported that on the evening of July 4th, the private equity
fund* owned Byron burgers chain brought a large number of their migrant
worker staff members to special 'training' session across 15 Byron
restaurants in London.

When they arrived, immigration police
were waiting for them and a reported 50 were arrested and deported. A
further 150 managed to avoid deportation and are in hiding acording to the source.

Those deported were mostly Latin American workers. It is not clear what
kind of shock and hardship their families in London are now
experiencing, or whether the workers were paid their wages or any monies
owed by the company.

Some of the deported workers had worked
for Byron for four years. Byron were happy to use them all that time and
then discard them and ruin lives overnight.

We stand in solidarity with the deported Byron workers and all migrant workers - papers or no papers.

No human being is illegal. No one is disposable. If Byron is prepared
to treat one group of workers like this, how is it treating others in
their workplaces?

Byron have acted shamefully and have made an
example of themselves as a deeply disrespectful employer. Our protest
aims to shine a spotlight on this unethical behaviour, deter it from
happening anywhere else, and to support workers still working at the
restaurants to resist exploitation.

Tuesday, 26 July 2016

If you walk into Sufra over the next few weeks don’t be surprised to find groups of young people lounging in the foyer, raiding the fridge or hovering around the office.

This summer, we’ve truly embraced the hug a hoodie mantra - throngs of young people are volunteering for the charity in the office, warehouse and the garden. Although it does mean tolerating some questionable music blasting in the background (Hotline Bling is a particular favourite at the moment) there’s a real party atmosphere.

I’ve met some amazing young people in the last week. There’s 14-year-old Adam who knows how to code pretty much anything, 16-year-old Sami who can tell you everything about breeding quails and is insisting on setting up a chicken coop in the garden, 15-year-old Davina who taught herself Chinese (as you do) and 16-year-old Ibrahim (he’s the “runner” we spoke about last time) who turns out to be an amateur film-maker.

Summer BBQ on St. Raphael’s Estate
We’re opening up the party to the whole community!

This Saturday, 30 July, we’re throwing our third annual Summer BBQ for St. Raphael’s Estate. This year there will be no queues for burgers – Daniels Estate Agents have kindly donated a super industrial barbecueto mark the occasion. We just have to hope that Ahmed, Parminder and Iwona can cook 500 burgers in 3 hours!

Alongside the barbecue, Dina and Ros will be offering exclusive tours of St. Raphael’s Edible Garden, Brent Start will be running workshops on healthy eating, cake-decorating and puppet-making (which is what I’m looking forward to!). Ibrahim and Adam will be selling oreo and strawberry milkshakes.

Come along to savour our culinary delights and learn more about Sufra NW London.

Kew Gardens to Bournemouth

We’re really grateful to Brent Community Transport who sponsored two trips to Kew Gardens and Bournemouth for our food bank users, who would not normally be able to afford a holiday or a day out.

One very sweet lady was overjoyed after returning from Bournemouth. “It was great to have some time to forget about all the problems at home.” Very cute. St. Raphael’s Edible Garden

If you haven’t been around to Sufra recently, you’ll be surprised to see how far the garden has come along! Yesterday I picked the first peach from our mini orchard – our first harvest. It was emotional. And rather bitter for my taste.

Over the next month we need some burly lads to dig out the pond. [Girls I think you can issue a challenge here MF] To be fair, it’s already been dug out. It just needs to be deeper. Come along on Sundays, between 10am and 2pm to help out. Sign up here.

Bottle Appeal

If you’re organising your own summer party, don’t forget to collect all your 2 litre soda bottles and drop them off to Sufra. So far we’ve collected over 100 bottles to build a greenhouse on St. Raphael’s Edible Garden, but we need over 1,500 to make sure the roof doesn’t leak!

Rui has been busy in the garden building the frame of the greenhouse, but the walls are looking rather bare. It’s a perfect excuse to overdose on sugary drinks.

Summer Academy

There are no spaces left (I did warn you to be quick), but if you want to sign up in advance for our Food Academy in September, download a Registration Form here.

Other Volunteering Opportunities:

This isn’t the most exciting role to be fair... We need some volunteers to do some data entry – there’s some with over 1,000 records to be input. I won’t try and sell it. Even I would struggle, despite all my talents. But if you want an invite to Nandos, drop me a line. You will have to work from the office, but we’re flexible on days/times.

If chicken isn’t your thing, or you’re vegetarian, you might want to sign up for our next supermarket collection.

It’s a bit early, but at least you can’t make the usual excuses of having planned a day out with friends. It’s Sat/Sun 3/4 September at Asda Park Royal. If you can flirt with customers, this is probably the right role for you. Sign up here.

Labour leadership supporters of Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith have been seeking support from Labour councillors. So far only seven of Brent's 56 Labour councillors have signed up. Statements and signatories below:

We are a group of
Labour Party councillors who are dismayed by the attempt by some within the
Parliamentary Labour Party to oust our democratically elected leader, Jeremy
Corbyn. Many of us were elected in May, where in spite of predictions of an
electoral meltdown, we won our seats. Voters who had previously felt abandoned
by the Labour Party returned to vote for us, returned as members, and returned
as campaigners.

It would be
utterly self-defeating for the people we represent if now, less than a year
after Jeremy was elected on the single biggest mandate of any previous leader,
he was to be forced from office. It is our view that the behaviour of some
members of the Parliamentary Labour Party is totally self-indulgent and at odds
with what the communities we represent need. We will risk losing all those new
members and enthusiastic campaigners who joined us because Jeremy offered a
vision of hope for the future.

Our enemy is not
Jeremy Corbyn – it is the Tory party and their plans to use the EU referendum
as a fig leaf to inflict further cuts to the councils we represent.

We hope that those
MPs who have embarked on this indulgent course of action will reflect on their
behaviour and turn their fire on the real enemy, the Tory Party.

Claudia Hector,Rita ConneelyJumbo Chan

BACK SMITHIn a month’s time, we will be casting our
votes for Owen Smith as Leader because we believe this is the only path forward
to a Labour Government and putting a stop to the immense damage the Tories are
doing to our communities and our nation.

We have closely watched the debate in our Party in recent weeks and are deeply
impressed with how Owen has done. He has driven home the message that the fight
Labour must lead is about tackling inequalities in wealth, power, outcomes and
opportunities, across our country.

Owen has convincingly made the case that he knows how to get things done and
has the tenacity and skill to advance the cause of working people. He has not
shied away from saying our Party has been too timid and that he would increase
taxes on the wealthy. He has set out a radical vision for a £200bn investment
programme, re-nationalising our railways and putting the decision to make war
firmly in the hands of elected MPs, not the Government of the day.

But there is more at stake here. There are militants in both wings of our Party
who are determined to carry out a civil war against each other, whether it
harms working people or not. We have intimidation and bullying in Constituency
Labour Parties up and down the country. We have those who seem to prefer
perpetual division to the job of winning power for the good of those we
represent. We need a unifying leader who is principled and competent.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Our country faces an existential threat from
nationalists and poor-bashing Tories. A new Scottish referendum is on the
horizon. This is no time for Labour to keep fighting itself. The next general
election has already begun. Owen Smith, with his experience, especially as
Shadow Secretary of State fighting austerity, has a firm grasp of the issues
and will be prepared to lead our party from day one.

Our party needs a leader who can win and is principled. That’s why we need your
support in backing Owen Smith.

Monday, 25 July 2016

It's been a busy couple of weeks. No I don't mean trying to keep up
with the headlines or the fallout from the headlines, though I can't say
that isn't also a challenge. I mean domestically. It's the end of term,
so there has been a procession of concerts and (intentionally) dramatic
events to attend, a street fair, a fete, end of term assemblies and so
on. This year is different because it's my daughter's last at primary
school. Which means, of course, that she leaves not only with a set of
wonderful memories and burgeoning opportunities, but with a set of SATS
results.

A week or so ago we had our school summer concert (which I
help with, as I'm involved with music at school). This was the 8th of
these annual events, and quite possibly the best yet. They always follow
the same format: choirs, ukulele group and recorder group have a
standing slot, and most of the rest of the programme is given over to
pupil performances - anything from solo songs to dance routines. Pupils
audition for a slot in the programme, for which they devise and rehearse
their own pieces. Variety is more important than perfection - over the
years we've had all sorts from Mozart on the horn to solo renditions of
Take That songs. This year, one of the highlights for me was the
'Kingfisher boys' - a group of year 3 boys (complete with baseball
caps), one singer in the middle of five dancers - including some rather
skilful breakdancing. It wasn't note-perfect or movement-perfect. But it
was exuberant, entertaining, and above all joyful. Like a lot else in
the summer concert, it was impossible to watch without smiling.

The
other thing that happened that day was that their school reports came
out. These, for those lucky children in year 6, included their SATS
results. In an attempt to explain the reporting of SATS results,
the headteacher usefully included a flyer written for parents by the
government Standards and Testing Agency. It goes on about the
government's desire to raise standards, and includes statements which of
course presage an intentionally higher number of 'failures' than
previously: "As the new standard is higher than the old one, fewer children have met the new expected standard than the previous standard", and
then goes on to suggest that parents go online to find out how their
child's results compare with the national average (which smacks rather
of trying to generate fear of failure in parents as well as pupils,
rather than drawing on the more positive effects of competition). The
leaflet also suggests that tests and teacher assessments help teachers
in secondary school to target extra help. Well my daughter's
test results didn't tell us anything we didn't already know about her or
anything she didn't already know about herself. Nor, more importantly,
did they tell her teacher anything she didn't already know and couldn't already communicate to the secondary school in a teacher assessment. So what, you might wonder, was the point of all that anguish back in May?

The
leaflet appears to suggest that more children failing the tests will
result in them having a better "mastery of the basics" (I'm really not
sure that 'fronted adverbials' are basic, but that's another matter).
But whilst it's made clear that the SATS system has been specifically
engineered to create more 'failures' than 'successes', for this year at
least, the leaflet doesn't explain how 'failing' might actually help a
child learn. (I can of course see how such engineering will help the
government claim to have improved standards in a couple of years time,
but that's another matter also.) It doesn't explain it because it can't
explain it. Back in May, my daughter feared the tests, though in the
event she did fine. That fear wasn't productive, it was just a waste of
emotional energy. And generating fear of failure in parents by
frequent use of words like 'mastery' and 'expected standard' is simply
unacceptable, as well as being unlikely to result in pupils actually
doing better.

In our summer concerts, on the other hand,
there are no failures. In eight years of summer concerts, I have never
seen a child crumble on stage. True, some enjoy performing more than
others, some are more engaging than others, some have practised more or
display more talent than others - but they all get up on the stage and
take pleasure in having done so. Those Kingfisher Boys applied
themselves to the task, thought creatively and worked collaboratively,
listened to advice and put it into practice (and rose to the challenge
of performing in front of at least 200 people). All rather useful skills
for life, let alone for learning. But SATS tests don't value any of
those attributes at all. Instead they have tested whether my daughter
and her peers can produce a piece of writing in time and remember
various facts and processes. I'm not seeking to denigrate the value of
learning these things in themselves (except much of the content of the
SPaG test, of course). But I question their value for our children's
overall emotional and cognitive development. Children find joy in things
that they value and that they get satisfaction from learning - whether
that's on stage, on the cricket pitch or indeed, with a skilled teacher,
in a classroom. And that joy spurs them on. Testing for the sake of
testing, on the other hand, eviscerates joy. I am heartily relieved, as
my daughter prepares for secondary school, that she has been at a
school which values the creative antics of boys in year 3 as highly as a
few test results.

Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided on the day. You have been invited to the event because it will give you an early opportunity to help us to shape a new service for patients and the public in Brent.

This plea from a primary headteacher appeared on Facebook about 12 hours ago and has received much attention. The Green Party has a long-standing policy in favour of the abolition of SATs and opposition has strengthened amongst parent groups and teachers.

I am a primary head teacher and have
taught in primary schools for the past 26 years. I started teaching when SATs
were first introduced and have never thought they were a good idea but this
year has been a disaster from start to finish. Before I explain why that is I
want to apologise. I want to say sorry to my staff and my children. I am sorry
that I didn’t act sooner, that I wasn’t brave enough to stand up at the start
of the year and say no. We all knew it was going to be bad but I really
couldn’t have imagined it would be this bad.

The year has been chaotic from start to finish. The testing regime being just
one part of that. From the Key Stage 1 SPAG test published on line for several
months without the DfE noticing, to the terrible Year 6 tests which have left
nearly half of our Year 6 pupils being told they are not good enough.

So to those young people moving on to secondary school I say to you well done
for working hard and trying your best. Your school and your teachers have not
failed you – this government has.

Over the past few days I have heard some terrible stories – head teachers sent
home and told not to return, Year 6 teachers blamed for the results and told
they can no longer teach in Year 6 – these are people’s lives, people’s
livelihoods – teachers went in to the profession to make a difference – we have
a system set on destroying them.

To my staff and my children – again I am sorry – you are amazing – each and
every one of you – you are individual, you are unique and no child should ever
have to be tested on a standardised test because you are not standard. No
teacher should be made to feel they have failed when all they have done is work
as hard as they can - often too hard to implement something which shouldn’t
have been implemented.

So now a request to all of you – parents, teachers, head teachers, school
staff. If you agree that these tests are wrong and should go. If you really
believe as I have heard many of you say that this year must be the last year
that we put our children through this then please do not allow the 6 week
holiday to numb your pain. Please remember what this has done to our schools
and our children and please do something – write to anyone and everyone, put
pressure on politicians and let us all together build a campaign to make sure
this doesn’t happen again.

Our children should leave primary
school confident learners who are looking forward to secondary school, keen to
learn and develop their skills but also people who have respect and
understanding for those around them and who will grow in to well-grounded young
people who can contribute positively to our society.

I for one cannot do this again I hope others join me to say enough is enough.
Our children deserve so much more.

Sunday, 24 July 2016

On July 14th the Times of Israel published an
article by Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt headed ‘I’m sorry for
sharing Israel slur – boycotts are wrong.’ LINK

The article came a considerable time after the minor storm
that blew up over Butt’s sharing of a Facebook post of a video that showed an Israeli soldiermistreating a young Palestinian girl.It was not so much the video that led to Butt
being accused of anti-Semitism but a comment beneath the video that likened
Israel to Isis.

Sharing the video was taken as Butt’s approval of that
sentiment.Anyone who engages in social
media will know that in sharing a Facebook post decisions made in seconds and
few would check all the comments that are made beneath the post.

At the time, when it appeared that the allegation may have been used against Butt ahead of the Brent Labour leadership election
contest, I tweeted that there were many better reasons to oppose him.It was at a time when the mass media were in
active pursuit of Jeremy Corbyn accusing him of anti-Semitism through his
support for justice for the Palestinian people and Butt appeared to have been caught in the backwash.

At the time other Labour figures, including councillors,
had been suspended while accusation of anti-Semitism were investigated and the
Chakrabarti inquiry was set up.In the light of the publicity some were
surprised that Butt had not been suspended.

There are several reasons why Butt’s article is
curious.

It is written in a style utterly difference from any
of Butt’s previous utterances and articles – almost as if it had been written
by someone else entirely.

It comes long after the initial controversy, at a time when the Chakrabarti report appears to have
calmed things down regarding anti-Semitism and the media have found new grounds
for discrediting Corbyn.Was the
article aimed at rehabilitating Butt after he resigned from London
Councils as it lead on Equalities following the Facebook controversy?

Butt’s linking of his apology to opposition to the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, a non-violent campaign aimed
at changing Israeli government policy towards the Palestinians, including the
Gaza blockade and the building of illegal settlements.

In his article Butt states:

As far as I can see, it [BDS] does
nothing for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It only provides more
ammunition to those who wish to divide and polarise. What it does do is make
our own Jewish community feel isolated and disturbed as to why the world’s only
Jewish state appears to be the focus of the most vociferous boycott movement.
So when boycotters wanted Brent to cancel its contracts with vendors who do
business in Israel, the decision to say no was one of the quickest and easiest
I have had to make.

The rather vague reference to ‘vendors who do business
in Israel’can only be a reference to
the Bin Veolia campaign, of which I was a part.The campaign was supported by many groups in Brent including Jews for
Justice for Palestinians and was backed by Brent Central Labour Party GC, Butt’s
local party. LINK

Our case was that Brent Council should not be handing
over cash from Brent’s residents to a company that at the time (it has since
withdrawn from these activities, arguably because of the national and international
campaign against its involvement) provided infrastructural support to Israel’s
illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

Although ambivalent about boycotts of all
Israeli goods, Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, is clear that
the settlements are a ‘gross injustice’. LINK

Grahame Morris MP, Chair of LFPME said:

We
should not have to boycott settlement goods; we should not be allowed to buy
them in the first place. I am appalled that the government are more focused on
preventing boycotts and disinvestment from the illegal settlements rather than
attempting to end settlement trade.

This
undermines their commitment to international law, human rights and resolving
the conflict.

Cllr Butt’s statement claims that it was his decision
to say no to a Council boycott.At the
time he said that the
decision on whether to boycott Veolia did not rest with him but with officers, particularly
Fiona Ledden, head of Brent legal and
prcorement at the time. He was concerned that Veolia, a large French-owned multi-national would take legal action against the Council.

The decision was to be based on external legal advice
(source never revealed despite requests) and although campaigners were
denounced as having a political agenda the Council decision would not be made
on political grounds.

Now, retrospectively, Butt is claiming in an effort to
bolster his credentials, that it was a political decision not to boycott
Veolia, and one made by him personally.

The Liberal Democrat opposition at the time was refused permission to put a motion on the issue on the advice of Brent Council
officer. LINK

The Brent Bin Veolia campaign had a two-pronged
approach, mobilizing popular support for the cause and taking on the Council’s
legal arguments via legal advice of our own.

The position regarding local councils is summed up by
a recent update from the BDS Movement LINK

In a typically straightforward statement Archbishop
Tutu made the case for BDS back in 2014 having visited Israel and Palestine to
see things for himself:

We could not have
achieved our democracy without the help of people around the world, who
through... non-violent means, such as boycotts and disinvestment, encouraged
their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support
for the apartheid regime.

In his article Butt refers to the importance of Israel in the life of Brent’s
Jewish residents ignoring the fact that many of those supporting the Veolia
campaign were themselves Jewish people who support the Palestinan cause.

He does
not mention his responsibility towards Brent residents of Palestinian origin.

Follow this link for the Free Speech on Israel submission to the Chakrabarti Inquiry LINK

This is the full text of Muhammed Butt's article:

I’m sorry for sharing Israel slur – boycotts are
wrong MUHAMMED BUTT

JULY 14, 2016, 11:42 AM

The Labour Party – my party – is currently going
through challenging times. Frankly, the behaviour of some of my fellow members
has not been good enough, particularly towards the Jewish community.

I too fell
short of what standards should be expected in a thoughtless act. Earlier this
year, I shared a post on Facebook without properly checking the comments below
it.

The post contained a video of a violent incident
between an Israeli soldier and young Palestinian girl. As a father of a
daughter, I felt an instinctive empathy for the young girl and shared the
video.

This was a mistake, not least because I had not read
the comments below the video. One made a
claim that was both wrong and offensive: that Israel was in some way comparable
to the so­ called Islamic State. I don’t believe this and have never believed
it. You can sincerely believe that Israel’s rule over the Palestinian people is
a tragedy for both parties, while refusing to indulge in that malicious and
lazy smear.

As a local authority leader, I work hard to stop young
people and children being groomed into the kind of extremism that ISIS
represents. I do not need to be told how evil they are: They have deliberately
killed thousands of civilians, used rape as a weapon of war and deployed mass
executions as propaganda tools.

ISIS represents
nothing but fear. Israel, however,
always offers hope. Right from its Declaration of Independence, it pledged
itself to democracy, the rule of law and the equal treatment of minorities – an
inspirational determination that was born at a time when much of the world
lived under dictatorship.

However, whether on purpose or by accident, I shared
the comment that made a wholly inappropriate and offensive comparison. I have
to accept responsibility for that and say again how sorry I am.

I am the proud leader of Brent, the most diverse
borough in the UK. I take my commitment to all our communities very seriously.
We must all stand together and that means respect, understanding the realities
of each other’s lives.

I understand
how critical Israel is to Jewish life in the UK: It could only be, when a
plurality of the world Jewish community – more than 40 percent – live in
Israel.

My Jewish residents will have parents, siblings and
children in Israel.

That’s why I have no time
for boycotts. As far as I can see, it does nothing for peace between Israelis
and Palestinians. It only provides more ammunition to those who wish to divide
and polarise.

What it does do is make our
own Jewish community feel isolated and disturbed as to why the world’s only
Jewish state appears to be the focus of the most vociferous boycott movement.

So when boycotters wanted Brent to cancel its
contracts with vendors who do business in Israel, the decision to say no was
one of the quickest and easiest I have had to make.

I have always felt a huge amount of solidarity with
the Jewish community. My family was forced out of Kashmir. I know what it is to
be from a victimised community, looking to find a safe place and a welcoming
community in which to live. When they came to Wembley, Jewish neighbours were
among the most welcoming – not to be taken lightly during the often difficult
1970s and 1980s.

I share the frustration of the Jewish community at how
long it is taking Labour to grapple with the problem of anti­Semitism in our
ranks. It makes me very sad to think that I could have been a part of making
matters worse. You can be sure that I will be much more careful about what I
share in future.

For me the Chakrabarti
report has not gone far enough. I would have liked it spelled out that not only
should Zionist not be used as a term of abuse, but that Zionism is an entirely
legitimate belief. As it happens, British Zionist groups such as Yachad are
doing far more for peace than the official boycott movement ever has.

I can pledge that, for Brent Labour, it will only be
the start of our thinking on the issue of antiSemitism, not the end. We can, we
must and we will go further to make sure that Jews feel valued and safe in our
party and in our borough, working with our local synagogues, the Board of
Deputies, the Community Security Trust, and the local police.

I personally look forward to
travelling to Israel in the near future to see the facts for myself.
Whatever our disagreements about the Middle East, making outlandish claims such
as Israel being in any way comparable to ISIS do not help the cause of peace.
They only cause hurt and unhelpful divisions. We can, we must,do better.

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